Józef Adam Zygmunt Cyrankiewicz (pronounced[ˈjuzɛft͡sɨranˈkʲɛvit͡ʂ]ⓘ; 23 April 1911 – 20 January 1989) was aPolish Socialist (PPS) and after 1948Communist politician. He served as premier of thePolish People's Republic between 1947 and 1952, and again for 16 years between 1954 and 1970. He also served as Chairman of thePolish Council of State from 1970 to 1972.[1][2]
Cyrankiewicz was born inTarnów in what was then theAustro-Hungarian Empire, to father Józef (1881–1939)[3] and mother Reginanée Szpak (1879–1967).[4] His father was a local activist of theNational Democracy[5] as well as lieutenant in thePolish Armed Forces[6] while his mother was an owner of several sawmills.[7] Cyrankiewicz attended theJagiellonian University. He became secretary of theKraków branch of thePolish Socialist Party in 1935.[8]
Active in theUnion of Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej, later renamed toArmia Krajowa), the Polish resistance organisation, from the beginning of Poland's 1939 defeat at the start of World War II, Cyrankiewicz was captured by theGestapo in the spring of 1941 and after imprisonment at Montelupich was sent to theAuschwitz concentration camp. He arrived on 4 September 1942, and received registration number 62,933.[9]
He, along with other Auschwitz prisoners, was eventually transferred toMauthausen as the Soviet front line approached Auschwitz late in the war. He was eventually liberated by theUS Army.
According to post-war communist era-propaganda, while in Auschwitz, Cyrankiewicz attempted to organize a resistance movement among the other imprisoned socialists and also worked on bringing the various international prisoners' groups together; those claims, used to build up his reputation in post-war Poland, are considered exaggerated by modern historians.[10][11] Instead, modern historians note that Cyrankiewicz controversially not only refused an appeal of a death sentence byWitold Pilecki, aHome Army resistance fighter who infiltrated Auschwitz and is considered to be the main creator of the resistance there, but suggested that he be treated "harshly, as an enemy of the state".[12][13][11]
Following the end of the war, he became secretary-general of the Polish Socialist Party's central executive committee in 1946. However, factional infighting split the Party into two camps: one led by Cyrankiewicz, the other byEdward Osóbka-Morawski, who was also prime minister.
Osóbka-Morawski thought the PPS should join with the other non-communist party in Poland, thePolish Peasant Party, to form a united front against communism. Cyrankiewicz argued that the PPS should support the communists (who held most of the posts in the government) in carrying through a socialist programme, while opposing the imposition ofone party rule. The CommunistPolish Workers' Party (PPR) played on this division within the PPS, dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz prime minister.
The PPS merged with the PPR in 1948 to form thePolish United Workers' Party (PZPR). Although the PZPR was the PPR under a new name, Cyrankiewicz remained as prime minister. He was also named a secretary of the PZPR Central Committee.[14]
Cyrankiewicz gave up the prime minister's post in 1952 because party bossBolesław Bierut wanted the post for himself. He did, however, become a deputy premier under Bierut.
However, in 1954, after Poland returned to "collective leadership," Cyrankiewicz returned to the premiership, a post he would hold until 1970. By this time, there was little left of Cyrankiewicz the socialist, as evidenced during the 1956 upheaval followingNikita Khrushchev's "secret speech." He tried to repress the rioting that erupted across the country at first, threatening that "any provocateur or lunatic who raises his hand against the people's government may be sure that this hand will be chopped off."[15]
Cyrankiewicz was also responsible for the order to fire on the protesters during the 1970demonstrations on the coast in which 42 people were killed and more than a 1,000 wounded. A few months after these demonstrations, Cyrankiewicz turned over the premiership to his longtime deputy,Piotr Jaroszewicz, and was named chairman of the Council of State—a post equivalent to that of president. Although it was nominally the highest state post in Poland, Cyrankiewicz had gone into semi-retirement. He held this post until he formally retired in 1972.
Cyrankiewicz died in 1989, a few months before the collapse of the communist regime. However, Cyrankiewicz (with others involved in the 1948 show trial) was posthumously charged in 2003 with complicity in Witold Pilecki's judicial murder.[citation needed]
Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 2nd Class (1946)[16]
Partisan Cross (1946)[17]
Grand Cross of theOrder of Polonia Restituta (1949)[18]
Order of the Banner of Labour, 1st Class (1951)[19]
Order of the Builders of People's Poland (1954)[20]
Auschwitz Cross (1985)[21]
Medal of the 30th Anniversary of People's Poland
Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland
Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland
Medal of Ludwik Waryński (1986)[22]
GoldenMedal of Merit for National Defence
SilverMedal of Merit for National Defence
BronzeMedal of Merit for National Defence
Badge of the 1000th Anniversary of the Polish State (1963)[23]
Honorary Badge of the City of Poznań (1966)[24]
Order of the White Lion, 1st Class (1947)[25]
Order of People's Liberation (1947)[26]
Order of 9 September 1944, 1st Class (1948)[27]
Grand Cross of theHungarian Order of Merit (1948)[28]
Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic, 1st Class (1948)[29]
Order of the National Flag, 1st Class (1957)[30]
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Aztec Eagle (1963)[31]
Grand Cross of theOrder of the White Rose of Finland with Collar (1964)[32]
Order of the Yugoslav Great Star (1964)[33]
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic (1965)[34]
Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Crown (1966)[35]
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (1967)[36]
Grand Cross of theLegion of Honour (1967)[37]
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Poland 1947–1952 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Poland 1954–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Polish Council of State 1970–1972 | Succeeded by |
Chairmen of thePolish Council of State | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Poland (1918–1939) | ||
| Polish government-in-exile (1939–1990) | ||
| Polish People's Republic (1944–1989) | ||
| Republic of Poland (1990–present) | ||
Acting presidents are denoted by italics. •List of Polish monarchs •First Lady of Poland | ||
